Trust me, I’ve never run a marathon – mostly because I don’t want to have to pay for one of those dumb 26.2 bumper stickers – but I ended up cutting Myles Turner as a desperation stream in a cutthroat 5-4 playoff win last week in one of my RCLs. It feels like I sold out to sprint past 1st place during mile 24! Now I’ve lost control of my bowels, my muscles are spasming out of control, and I’m probably sputtering into not completing the race. Fortunately in the JB vs. Slim RCL I had the luxury of the bye and held strong. Strong and steady wins the race (as does 1st round byes…)! Turner went nuts for 24/16/1/0/3 on 11-17 FG last night, in a hell of a way to celebrate his 20th birthday. Dude can play pro ball like this, vote, drive, and CAN’T celebrate with a beer?! It was a strong way to break through that nebulous rookie wall, even though he’d been pretty solid lately anyway. And with a possible DNP from your main Pacer, another big game could be coming to close out your week in the semis. Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy hoops action:

The injuries and tanking DNPs continue in one of the most utterly annoying final months to the NBA in recent memory. There will always be guys getting hurt, but we’ve lost yet another with Hassan Whiteside tearing up his hand and needing 10 stitches last night after jamming it up against the rim. Right in the webbing! Between the fingers! Youchie. After the game he said he couldn’t feel it. I’m no doctor, but none of that sounds good for his status tonight! I mean, sometimes losing all feeling in a hand can be good like in The Stranger… Certainly sounds like he’ll take at least a game off, unless they can fit him with one of those oven mitts they give guys in the NFL when they play with broken hands. It might end up being a good thing, because if Kelly Olynyk says something about Whiteside’s mama, we could see an even longer suspension! Here’s what else went down last night in another “dropping like flies” night of fantasy basketball action:

[We’ve got the Trade Deadline Podcast up! Slim and I react to all this hooblah as this post continues to be updated – you can find the Pod the post below this one as well as that link.]

Razzball Nation!

The Trade Deadline is nigh, which is to say, soon. Can I trade the start of this open with a different one…? “Did you hear the one about how the Hawks got nothing for the broke ass of Josh Smith last trade deadline?!” Imagine the Hawks with a lottery pick as well… I guess as fortune-tellers, they knew they didn’t need anything for Smoove!

The 2015 NBA Trade Deadline will pass at 3:00 PM EST, and up until the closing moments, I’ll be updating this post as each trade moves across my virtual news desk. Fantasy spins galore! That’s the younger sister of Pussy Galore… So be sure to constantly ping that refresh like Goldfinger on Kitco! Here’s what’s gone down so far:

Oh man, was last night fun! So much to hit on including a certain player going against his former team, but I want to start with two career-first triple doubles. On the same night! And on a night with only five games no less… First stop is Isaiah Thomas, who, and I mean this without sounding like I’m succumbing to a cliche about his size or anything, looked like the only dude who cared for the whole game on either the Wiz or the Kings. I loved me some IT2 with the rankings before free agency, and really pimped him hard when Greivis Vasquez got sent off – as many sources did. Regardless, everyone was right, he’s been a beast and went 24/11/10 with 10-10 FT and two treys. And to top off the abuse of John Wall, Wall was 2-6 at the stripe missing pivotal freebies late. My Wizards friend stopped texting me at the end. I’m guessing he threw his phone through a Wall. I capitalize that because he has a John Wall fathead on his wall. Anyway, Paul Millsap also hopped in the trip-dub booze cruise for a 19/13/10 line. Hopefully your fantasy teams own one or both of these guys and faced neither. Nothing would be more annoying than marginally losing Rebs to an IT2 owner! Here’s what else I saw last night in NBA action (and don’t forget to fill out a bracket in our Razzball March Madness pool!):

Shawn Marion scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds last night, and I was going to make him a Buy except that he is already at 64% ownership. If he’s available in your league, you should buy anyway. His month of January had him with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a steal.

If I told you I had an Uncle Salvatore and he was eaten by badgers, that would be pretty wild, right? Well, I don’t, and none of my uncles have been consumed by wildlife. A true thing that happened that’s also pretty wild is Klay Thompson‘s amazing night.

There is a very interesting situation brewing in Toronto, this time involving the guards instead of the big men. Kyle Lowry is still coming off the bench, last night playing 22 minutes, taking 2 shots (missing both from downtown), and throwing in 2 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals.

Last night, Kobe Bryant scored over half his team’s points (40) and reached a triple double. No, not the good kind of triple double…the kind where you also have 10 turnovers. An absurd line of 40/10/3/3 with 5 3PM, 12-28 FG, 11-13 FT, and the aforementioned 10 turnovers.

Arguably, steals are the most difficult stat to obtain. You’d think solid defense would lead to more takeaway opportunities, but this is a shooting league, so maybe there is no solid defense. Anyway, this is a look at the seven (eligible) players with the best steals ratios with under 50% ownership.

The NBA had its second triple double of the year, and it was earned by Jose Calderon. He scored 13 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds. He has been averaging a whopping 1.0 rebound per game, so this was a wee bit of a surprise.